The Usual Suspects

Big hitters dominate captaincy rankings for Gameweek 5

Liverpool were the big losers on MatchDay 4, being humbled 5-0 at the Etihad, in a gameweek where the 6 most expensive forwards in the Official Fantasy Premier League game all found the back of the net.

Harry Kane opened his account for the season, firing in a brace against Everton, while Gabriel Jesus also scored twice for Manchester City.

It was enough to ensure that Kane jumped to the summit of the ‘Armband’ rankings for Gameweek 5, just pipping Romelu Lukaka to top spot.

However, it is worth pointing out that Spurs face a huge task in the Champions League, with Borussia Dortmund first up on Wednesday. This will be a real test of the Lilywhites’ European pedigree, so there could be an outside chance of Kane being spared a few game minutes against the Swans in next Saturday’s evening kick-off. The addition of Fernando Llorente certainly gives them more options in attack and Mauricio Pochettino may be tempted to use the Spanish striker against his former club.

GW5

Contribution Expectancy (Goals & Assists)

Player

0

1

2

3+

Harry Kane

30.08%

36.14%

21.70%

12.08%

Romelu Lukaku

35.58%

36.77%

19.00%

8.65%

Fernando Llorente

39.43%

36.69%

17.07%

6.80%

Sergio Agüero

39.72%

36.67%

16.93%

6.68%

Gabriel Jesus

40.82%

36.57%

16.38%

6.22%

Mohamed Salah

40.89%

36.57%

16.35%

6.19%

Christian Eriksen

44.46%

36.04%

14.61%

4.90%

Philippe Coutinho

44.63%

36.01%

14.52%

4.84%

Dele Alli

45.97%

35.73%

13.88%

4.42%

Kevin De Bruyne

46.68%

35.56%

13.55%

4.21%

Roberto Firmino

47.87%

35.26%

12.99%

3.88%

Anthony Martial

51.93%

34.03%

11.15%

2.89%

Charlie Austin

53.67%

33.40%

10.39%

2.54%

Álvaro Morata

56.92%

32.08%

9.04%

1.97%

Son Heung-min

57.55%

31.80%

8.78%

1.87%

Jermain Defoe

57.87%

31.65%

8.66%

1.82%

Jamie Vardy

60.55%

30.38%

7.62%

1.45%

Steve Mounie

61.09%

30.11%

7.42%

1.39%

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On Sunday, Romelu Lukaku is expected to lead the Manchester United attack against his old club Everton and he is sure to be a popular choice as he looks to build on the 4 Premier League goals he has accumulated already.

Liverpool will have to make do without the suspended Sadio Mané when they take on Burnley at Anfield on Saturday, with Daniel Sturridge or Philippe Coutinho expected to plug the gap.

It is quite a sizeable gap to fill as well, as Liverpool’s performances are way down when Mané is not in the team.

In the Oulala infographic above it is easy to see how vital the Senegalese striker has been for Liverpool since arriving at Anfield.

However, on the plus side, Mo Salah, the Reds’ highest rated player on WhoScored this season, could be the man to bring home the bacon in Mané’s absence .

The Egyptian international might not have cut it at Chelsea but he scored 15 times for Roma in Serie A last season and now looks a real threat in the final third.

While most fantasy managers are likely to go for the usual suspects in the form of Kane, Lukaku or the Manchester City duo of Gabriel Jesus or Sergio Agüero, Salah provides an intriguing alternative. Is he worth chancing?

On a final note, make sure you pay special attention to those pre-match press conferences scheduled for later in the week though, just in case any of the managers whose sides have European involvement, offer any clues about possible rotation.

Intro

Despite the introduction of more elaborate scoring systems, goals remain the bread and butter of fantasy football with goals, assists and clean sheets critical to success. Our GOALS series provide a game difficulty reference which relates to the goal expectancies of participating teams for upcoming game rounds.On top of this we will provide captaincy rankings to assist with those armband choices that can be key to the outcome of contests in some game formats.